I can summarize in one word why winter is my favorite season—snow. I know for too many people, winter symbolizes death. But I don’t look at it that way. I simply believe the trees and flowers are sleeping until the time life renews itself. I know that spring and summer are probably most people’s favorite seasons, but I just can’t see how most can not see the beauty in winter. As I have said, snow is a contributing factor in my love of winter. Most likely, the number one contributing factor—snow is pure and crystalline. I could tell you a million stories about some of the snowstorms I’ve lived through. My favorite being a blizzard, a squirrel kept coming onto our front porch to shelter itself from the storm. There was a cereal back then that had these nut clusters in it. My siblings and I opened our living room window and threw the cereal onto the porch for him. The best part was that he ate it; it was a lot of fun to watch. We’d never seen a squirrel that close before. And I haven’t seen one that close since. I like to think we might have saved him from death.

There’s a line in a Christmas special that goes “as savagery often does, leaving beauty in its wake.” In the special, a mother donkey sacrifices herself for her son during a fierce snowstorm. It’s after that when the narrator states that line. I’ve never quite understood that line, but what I think it means is after the fierceness of the storm, there is a quiet beauty left behind. As in spring, after a harsh winter, there is life again. To me, the sleeping trees, bulbs, and seeds are going to come back, so why can’t we enjoy the sleeping beauty of winter.

It does help that my favorite holiday falls within the winter limits. Christmas is over now, and it always depresses me a little. I think January is the most depressing month of the entire year. If it weren’t for the occasional snowfall, I would be even more depressed. Every other month of the year, I watch Christmas shows. It’s just… there’s something about January. Maybe because it’s too close to the end of the Christmas season.  Even in the summer months, I can watch Christmas shows. Just not in January.

Perhaps that is what keeps me going all year until Christmas comes again—watching those shows. It’s kind of sad that watching those shows is all I have to look forward to. I remember when I first started therapy in 1999, my need to watch those shows was so great I drove my family insane with how much I watched them.

Anyway, back to winter. Maybe I named this essay winter wonderland with the song in mind. To me, Christmas and winter go hand in hand. Sometimes I expect winter to end right along with Christmas. I am happy that it doesn’t.

I believe it’s in my blood, this love of winter as well as Christmas. I was born on its eve. I like being a Christmas baby very much. I know many people must share my birthday, but in my little world, I was the only one.

Winter, for me, is the greatest season of all. Sometimes I wonder why such a turbulent and utterly unpredictable season is my favorite. The answer I came up with is vanity. I am very much like a snowstorm; I suppose I like myself. Unpredictability is a trait I possess but not unleash very often. It does come out sometimes like a personality I’m trying to hide. Until my spring comes, I will forever be walking in a winter wonderland.